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How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World |  |
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How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World | |
From the New York Times–bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and Everything Bad Is Good for You, a new look at the power and legacy of great ideas.
In this illustrated history, Steven Johnson explores the history of innovation over centuries, tracing facets of modern life (refrigeration, clocks, and eyeglass lenses, to name a few) from their creation by hobbyists, amateurs, and entrepreneurs to their unintended historical consequences. Filled with surprising stories of accidental genius and brilliant mistakes—from the French publisher who invented the phonograph before Edison but forgot to include playback, to the Hollywood movie star who helped invent the technology behind Wi-Fi and Bluetooth—How We Got to Now investigates the secret history behind the everyday objects of contemporary life.
In his trademark style, Johnson examines unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated fields: how the invention of air-conditioning enabled the largest migration of human beings in the history of the species—to cities such as Dubai or Phoenix, which would otherwise be virtually uninhabitable; how pendulum clocks helped trigger the industrial revolution; and how clean water made it possible to manufacture computer chips. Accompanied by a major six-part television series on PBS, How We Got to Now is the story of collaborative networks building the modern world, written in the provocative, informative, and engaging style that has earned Johnson fans around the globe.
网友对How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World的评论
很多手印，能不能塑封下，或者让取货人注意，这个很重要
内容非常有趣，很有启发意义，很早就关注这本书了，但是一直不出中文译版，等不及了
As a scientist and inventor, I found "How We Got to Now" to be a delightful book on invention and innovation. The author focuses on six area of innovation: glass, cold, sound, clean, time, and light. For instance, he describes the accidental discovery of glass in the desert and traces the development of lenses, eyeglasses, telescopes, and microscopes.
The stories of invention and how society has been changed is fascinating. For instance, ice cutting from frozen lakes leads to cooling machines to population growth in areas of hot climate. Clocks and railroads give us time zones and standardized time based on atomic transitions, not on the rotation of the Earth. The author does miss the role played by glass (silicon oxide) in integrated circuit chips, where the glass is used as an insulator. There are few other omissions in this book.
In the section on light, the author reveals a little-known secret about invention. Edison's most important innovation was the organization of groups of scientists and engineers to find solutions to technical problems. Of my 118 issued United States patents, there are a small number for which I am the sole inventor. These represent the flash-of-genius type of invention. The majority were inventions-by-committee, where typically three or four people of different backgrounds combined their knowledge to come up with new solutions.
The final chapter deals with the work of Ada Lovelace (software), and Charles Babbage (hardware), who designed the first programmable computing machine. This short section could easily have been expanded into a complete chapter on calculation. However, the author uses the story to illustrate an unusual invention that preceded its enabling technology.
The book is full of illustrations and interesting anecdotes. It does a good job of telling the story of technology development and how it can transform the way we live.
Steven Johnson reminded me of the wonderful world we live in; and by "wonderful," I mean "full of wonder." He helps the reader stop and look around and realize how truly awesome the inventions that we use every day really are. Without the technology of glass, cold, sound, clean, time, and light, our lives today would be considerably more miserable. As comedian Louis CK quips, people kvetch that they have to wait on line at the airport, yet don't marvel at the miracle of flight. Similarly, Johnson reminds us that without the ability to cool down our homes and work environments, huge swaths of the planet would be orders of magnitude more unpleasant and less productive. Along the same lines, if we didn't have the ability to properly flush away our waste, as humans could not do for most of their history, people never could have come together and lived in lively metropolises since they would have gotten sick and died due to the pollution. If you're feeling down about society today, make sure to read Johnson's book. If you keep your eyes and heart open, it can truly change you from a pessimist to an optimist.
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